A new deal between mHITs Australia and Safaricom‘s M-PESA will make instantaneous direct mobile-to-mobile funds transfers between Australia and Kenya possible for as little as $2.50.
According to mHITs CEO Harold Dimpel, “The mHITs Remit micro-remittance service allows people in Australian to send money safely and conveniently to partner mobile wallet operators in other countries simply by sending an SMS including GLOBE GCASH and SMART Money in the Philippines, MTN Mobile Money in Ghana and now M-PESA in Kenya.”
“Unlike traditional international remittance methods, the mHITs Remit service provides very low fees and instantaneous transfer of funds directly to a recipient’s mobile money account without requiring a transfer agent or bank,” he added.
Through mHITs, senders can conveniently perform a transaction from their mobile phone at any time and require only the mobile number of the recipient in order to send money. Recipients automatically receive an SMS notification as soon as funds are credited to their mobile money account. The recipient can access the funds instantly and securely from their mobile money account directly or depending upon their region, may also withdraw funds in cash via an agent or ATM. Recipients do not need a bank account or to locate a transfer agent in order to access funds.
mHITs will micro-remittance service for people living in Australia to send money instantly and conveniently by mobile phone to their relatives and friends living in Kenya immediately to their M-PESA.
Mobile technology lowers the cost of remittances as it removes the need for physical points of presence and ensures a timely and secure method of transaction. The World Bank estimates that reducing remittance commission charges by 2- 5% could increase the flow of formal remittances by 50-70%. Reducing the cost of sending each individual remittance encourages the delivery of lower value remittances, at values far less than today’s average transfer of US$200.
“Standing at an average of USD 109 million a year, diaspora remittances are a big contributor to the Kenyan economy, yet sending money back home remains a hugely costly affair. By taking advantage of leap frog technologies such as M-PESA and mHITs’ mobile wallet, this partnership will provide both the senders in Australia and the recipients in Kenya with a convenient and affordable channel through which to send and receive money,” said Ms. Betty Mwangi-Thuo, General Manager, Financial Services, Safaricom Limited.
In March, mHITs launched its BuyPower mobile prepaid electricity vending service in Namibia Africa. This was the first service of its type in Africa where airtime is used directly to purchase prepaid electricity.